[This text is written in the form of a
dialogue between teacher and student. The student asks, and the teacher
responds to seven questions: What is bondage? How did it arise? How does
it continue? How is one released from it? What is this An-Atman
(not-Self)? Which is the Param-Atman (supreme-Self)? How is one to
distinguish between the Atman and the An-Atman?]

[Note: This translator
uses the word "God" for the Sanskrit word "Brahman," which is the
absolute reality. For many readers this can be misleading, as the common
English usage of the word "God" is different from what is intended by
"Brahman."]

I prostrate myself before
Govinda, the true Guru and ultimate Bliss, who is the unattainable
resort of all scriptures and Vedanta. 1

Human nature is the hardest
of creaturely states to obtain, even more so that of manhood [note: at
the time of this writing the higher practices were more available to
men]. Brahminhood is rarer still, and beyond that dedication to the path of
Vedic religion. Beyond even that there is discrimination between self
and non-self, but liberation by persistence in the state of the unity of
God and self is not to be achieved except by the meritorious deeds of
hundreds of thousands of lives. 2

These three things are hard
to achieve, and are attained only by the grace of God -- human nature,
the desire for liberation, and finding refuge with a great sage. 3

He is a suicide who has
somehow achieved human birth and even manhood and full knowledge of the
scriptures but does not strive for self-liberation, for he destroys
himself by clinging to the unreal. 4

Who could be more foolish
than the man who has achieved the difficult attainment of a human body
and even manhood but still neglects his true good? 5

People may quote the
scriptures, make sacrifices to the gods, perform actions and pay homage
to the deities, but there is no liberation without recognising the
oneness of one's own true being - not even in the lifetime of a hundred
Brahmas (countless millions of years). 6

Scripture declares that
there is no hope of immortality by means of wealth, so it is evident
that liberation cannot be brought about by actions. 7

So let the man of
understanding strive for liberation, abandoning desire for the enjoyment
of external aims and pleasures, and after becoming the pupil of a good
and great teacher, let him fix his mind on the goal he indicates. 8

Sunk in the sea of samsara,
one should oneself rouse oneself by holding onto right understanding
until one reaches the state of the attainment of union. 9

Abandoning all actions and
breaking free from the bonds of achievements, the wise and intelligent
should apply themselves to self-knowledge. 10

Action is for the
purification of the mind, not for the understanding of reality. The
recognition of reality is through discrimination, and not by even tens
of millions of actions. 11

Proper analysis leads to the
realisation of the reality of the rope, and this is the end of the pain
of the fear of the great snake caused by delusion. 12

The realisation of the truth
is seen to depend on meditation on statements about what is good, not on
bathing or donations or by hundreds of yogic breathing exercises. 13

Achievement of the goal
depends primarily on a fit seeker. Things like locality and time are
merely secondary in this matter. 14

So he who would know his own
nature should practise meditation on the subject after taking refuge
with a guru who is a true knower of God and an ocean of compassion. 15

It is the wise and learned
man, skilled in sorting out the pros and cons of an argument who is
really endowed with the qualities necessary for self-realisation. 16

Discriminating and
dispassionate, endowed with peace and similar qualities, and longing for
liberation - such is the man who is considered fit to practise seeking
for God. 17

The wise talk here of four
qualities, possessed of which one will succeed, but without which one
will fail. 18

First is listed
discrimination between unchanging and changing realities, and after that
dispassion for the enjoyment of the fruits of action both here and
hereafter, and then the group of six qualities including peace and of
course the desire for liberation. 19

" God is the Truth and
the world is unreal." It is this realisation that is considered
discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent. 20

Dispassion is the turning
away from what can be seen and heard and so on in everything which is
impermanent, from the body up to the highest heavenly states. 21

The settling of the mind in
its goal, by turning away from the mass of objects through observing
their defects again and again, is known as peace. 22

The establishment of the
senses each in its own source by means of turning away from their
objects is known as control. The supreme restraint is in the mind
function not being involved in anything external. 23

Bearing all afflictions
without retaliation and without mental disturbance is what is known as
patience. 24

The holding on to the
knowledge of the truth of the Scriptures and the guru's teaching is
called faith. It is by means of this that reality is grasped. 25

The continual holding onto
the awareness of God alone - continually, is known as concentration -
not just mental self- gratification. 26

The wish to be freed by the
knowledge of one's true nature from such bonds as seeing oneself as the
agent, which are contingent on the body and created by ignorance - this
is desire for liberation. 27

This desire for liberation
can bear fruit through dispassion, peacefulness etc. by the grace of the
guru, even when only weak or mediocre. 28

It is in a man who has
strong dispassion and desire for liberation though that peacefulness and
so on are really fruitful. 29

But where there is a
weakness in these qualities of renunciation and desire for liberation,
apparent peacefulness and such like have as much substance as water in
the desert. 30

Among the contributory
factors of liberation, devotion stands supreme, and it is the search for
one's own true nature that is meant by devotion. 31

Others say that devotion is
inquiry into the reality of one's own nature. He who possesses the above
qualities and would know the truth about his own nature should take
refuge with a wise guru who can free him from his bonds. 32

The guru should be one who
knows the scriptures, is blameless and a supreme knower of God. He
should be at peace in God, tranquil as a fire that has run out of fuel.
He should be a boundless ocean of compassion and the friend of those who
seek his protection. 33

After prostrating oneself
with devotion before the guru and satisfying him with prostrations,
humble devotion and service, one should ask him what one needs to know.
34

Hail, lord, friend of those
who bow before you, and ocean of compassion. I have fallen into this sea
of samsara. Save me with a direct glance from your eye which bestows
grace like nectar. 35

I am stricken by the
unquenchable forest fire of samsara and blown about by unforseeable
winds of circumstances. Save me from death, for I am afraid and take
refuge in you, for I know of no one else to help me. 36

Good and peaceful, great men
living for the good of all, and having themselves crossed the fearful
torrent of becoming, with no ulterior motive help others to cross too .
37

It is the nature of great
souls to act spontaneously for the relief of the distress of others,
just as the moon here of itself protects the earth parched by the heat
of the fierce rays of the sun. 38

Pour upon me your sweet
words, imbued with the taste of God's bliss. They spring from your lips
as if poured out of a jug, and are pleasing to the ear. For I am
tormented by samsara's afflictions, like the flames of a forest fire,
Lord. Blessed are those who receive even a passing glance from your
eyes. 39

How can I cross this sea of
changing circumstances? What should I do, what means employ? In your
mercy, Lord, show me how to end the pain of samsara, for I understand
nothing. 40

As he said this, tormented
by the forest fire of samsara, the great Sage looked at him with a gaze
full of compassion, urging him to abandon fear, now that he had taken
refuge in him. 41

Out of compassion the Sage
undertakes his instruction since he has come to him for help in his
search for liberation, is willing to do as he is told, is pacified of
mind and calm. 42

Don't be afraid, master.
Destruction is not for you. There is indeed a means of crossing the sea
of samsara, the way taken by which those who have crossed over before,
and I will now instruct you in it. 43

There is a certain great
means which puts an end to the fear of samsara. Crossing the sea of
change by means of it, you will achieve the ultimate joy. 44

Supreme understanding
springs from meditating on the meaning of Vedanta, and that is followed
immediately by the elimination of the pain of samsara. 45

The practice of faith,
devotion and meditation are declared by scripture to be the means to
liberation for a seeker after liberation. He who perseveres in these
will achieve freedom from the bondage to the body, created by ignorance.
46

Linked with ignorance, your
supreme self has become involved in the bonds of non self, and from that
in samsara. The fire of the knowledge born from discriminating between
these two will burn out the consequences of ignorance along with its
very root. 47

The disciple

Out of compassion hear this
question I put to you, so that when I have heard the reply from your
lips I will be able to put it into practice. 48

What exactly is bondage? How
does it come about and remain? How is one freed from it? What exactly is
non self? What is the Supreme Self? And how does one discriminate
between them? Explain this to me. 49

The guru replied

You are indeed blessed, for
you have achieved the true purpose of life and sanctified your family,
in that you seek deification by liberation from the bonds of ignorance.
50

Sons and suchlike are able
free their father from debts, but no-one can free some-one else from
bondage. 51

The pain of something like a
weight on the head can be removed by others, but the pain of things like
hunger can be put an end to by no-one but oneself. 52

A sick man is seen to get
better by taking the appropriate medicine - not through treatment
undertaken by others. 53

Reality can be experienced
only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar. What the moon
is like must be seen with one's own eyes. How can others do it for you?
54

Who but yourself can free
you from the bonds of the fetters of things like ignorance, lust and the
consequences of your actions - even in hundreds of thousands of years?
55

Liberation is achieved not
by observances or by analysis, nor by deeds or learning, but only by the
realisation of one's oneness with God, and by no other means. 56

The beauty of a lute and
skill in playing its cords can bring some pleasure to people but can
hardly make you a king. 57

In the same way, speech
alone, even a deluge of words, with scholarship and skill in commenting
on the scriptures, may achieve some personal satisfaction but not
liberation. 58

When the supreme reality is
not understood, the study of the scriptures is useless, and study of the
scriptures is useless when the supreme reality has been understood. 59

The tangle of words is a
great forest which leads the mind off wandering about, so wise men
should strive to get to know the truth about their own nature. 60

Except for the medicine of
the knowledge of God, what use are Vedas, scriptures, mantras and such
medicines when you have been bitten by the snake of ignorance? 61

An illness is not cured just
by pronouncing the name of the medicine without drinking it, and you
will not be liberated by just pronouncing the word God without direct
experience. 62

How can one reach liberation
by just pronouncing the word God without achieving the elimination of
the visible universe and realising the truth about one's own nature? It
will just be a waste of speech. 63

One cannot become a king
just by saying, "I am the king," without defeating one's
enemies and taking possession of the country. 64

A buried treasure will not
come out just by calling it, but needs a good map, digging, removal of
obstructing stones and so on to get at it. In the same way the pure
reality, hidden by the effects of Maya, cannot be achieved by just
abusing it, but by instruction from a knower of God, reflection,
meditation and so on. 65

So the wise should strive
with all their ability for liberation from the bonds of change, as they
would in the case of sickness and things like that. 66

The question you have asked
today is a good one in the opinion of those learned in the scriptures,
to the point and full of meaning. It needs to be understood by those
seeking liberation. 67

Listen careful to what I
say, master. By hearing this you will be freed from the bonds of change.
68

The primary basis of
liberation is held to be total dispassion for everything impermanent,
and after that peacefulness, restraint, patience, and the complete
renunciation of scriptural observances. 69

After that the practicant
finds there comes listening, reflection on what one has heard, and long
meditation on the truth. Then the wise man will experience the supreme
non-dual state and come here and now to the bliss of Nirvana. 70

When you have heard me fully
explain what you need to know about the discrimination between self and
non-self, then bear it in mind. 71

The body, constituted of
marrow, bone, fat, flesh, ligament and skin, and composed of feet, legs,
chest, arms, back and head, is the seat of the "I" and
"mine" delusion, and is known as the physical body by the
wise, while space, air, fire, water and earth are the subtle elements.
72 - 73

When these various elements
are combined, they form the physical body, while in themselves they
constitute the objects of the senses, the five types of sound and so on,
for the enjoyment of the individual. 74

The ignorant who are bound
to the senses by the strong, hardly breakable bonds of desire, are borne
here and there, up and down, in the control of their own karmic
impulses. 75

Deer, elephant, moth, fish
and wasp, these five have all died from attachment by their own volition
to one of the five senses, sound etc., so what about the man who is
attached to all five! 76

The effect of the senses is
more deadly than even that of a cobra. Their poison kills a man who only
just looks at them with his eyes. 77

Only he who is free from the
terrible hankering after the senses which is so hard to overcome is fit
for liberation, and no-one else, not even if he is an expert in the six
branches of scripture. 78

The shark of longing grasps
those whose desire for liberation is only superficial by the throat as
they try to cross the sea of samsara and drowns them halfway. 79

He who has killed the shark
of the senses with the sword of firm dispassion can cross the sea of
samsara without impediment. 80

Realise that death quickly
waylays the senseless man who follows the uneven way of the senses, but
that man achieves his purpose who follows the guidance of a true,
compassionate guru. Know this as the truth. 81

If you really have a desire
for liberation, avoid the senses from a great distance, as you would
poison, and continually practice the nectar-like qualities of
contentment, compassion, forbearance, honesty, calm and restraint. 82

He who neglects that which
should be undertaken at all times, the liberation from the bonds created
by beginningless ignorance, and gets stuck in pandering to the alien
good of this body, is committing suicide by doing so. 83

He who seeks to know himself
while pampering of the body is crossing a river holding onto a crocodile
in mistake for a log. 84

This infatuation with the
body and such things is a great death for the seeker after liberation.
He who has overcome this infatuation is worthy of liberation. 85

Overcome this great death of
infatuation with such things as the body, wives and children. Sages who
have overcome it go to the supreme realm of God. 86

This body is material and
offensive, consisting of skin, flesh, blood, sinews, veins, fat, marrow
and bones, and full of urine and excrement. 87

This material body, which
arises from past action out of material elements formed by the
combination of subtle elements, is the vehicle of sensation for the
individual. This is the state of a waking person perceiving material
objects. 88

The life force creates for
itself, out of itself, material object of enjoyment by means of the
external senses - such colourful things as flowers, perfumes, women,
etc. That is why this has its fullest enjoyment in the waking state. 89

See this material body, all
that the external existence of a man depends on, as just like the house
of a house-dweller. 90

Birth, old age and death are
inherent in the physical body, as are such conditions as a heavy build
and childhood, while there are different circumstances like caste and
occupation, all sorts of diseases, and various different types of
treatment, like respect and contempt to bear with. 91

Ears, skin, eyes, nose and
tongue are organs of sense, since they enable the experience of objects,
while voice, hands, feet and bowels are organs of action through their
inclination to activity. 92

The inner sense is known
variously as mind, understanding, the sense of agency, or volition,
depending on its particular function - mind as imagining and analysing,
understanding as establishing the truth of a matter, the sense of
responsibility from relating everything to oneself, and volition as
seeking its own good. 93, 94

The one vital breath (prana)
takes the form of all the various breathings, exhalations and psychic
currents and fields according to the various functions and
characteristics, as do gold and water and such things. 95

The eight citadels of groups
of five categories, starting respectively with speech, hearing, vital
breath, ether, intelligence, ignorance desire and action, constitute
what is known as the subtle body. 96

Hear that this higher body,
also known as the subtle body, with its desires and its tendency to
follow the course of causal conditioning, is derived from the
undifferentiated elements, and is a beginningless superimposition, due
to its ignorance, on the true self. 97

Sleep is a distinct state of
the self in which it shines by itself alone, whereas in dreaming the
mind itself assumes the sense of agency due to the various desires of
the waking state, while the supreme self shines on, on its own, as pure
consciousness, the witness of everything from anger and such things on,
without being itself affected by any of the actions performed by the
mind. Since it is unattached to action, it is not affected by anything
done by its superimpositions. 98, 99

The subtle body is the
vehicle of all operations for the self, like an axe and so on for the
carpenter. The self itself is pure consciousness, and, as such, remains
unattached. 100

Blindness, short-sightedness
and sharp eyesight are simply due to the healthiness or defectiveness of
the eye, just as such states as deafness and dumbness are conditions of
the ear etc., not of the self, the knower. 101

Breathing in and out,
yawning, sneezing and bodily secretions are described by experts as
functions depending on the Inner Energy, while hunger and thirst for
truth are functions of the Inner Energy direct. 102

The mind, as a reflection of
Light, resides in the body with its senses, the eyes etc., through
identifying itself with them. 103

The sense of responsibility
is what feels itself as the doer and bearer of the consequences, and in
together with the three Attributes, purity etc., undergoes the three
states (of sleeping, dreaming and waking). 104

When the senses are
favourable it is happy, and when they are not it is unhappy. So
happiness and suffering are its attributes, and not those of the ever
blissful self. 105

The senses are enjoyable
only for the sake of oneself, not for themselves. The self is the most
dear of everything, and consequently the self is ever blissful, and
never experiences suffering. 106

That we experience the bliss
of the self free from the senses in deep sleep is verified by the
scriptures, by direct experience, by tradition and by deduction. 107

The so-called Inexpressible,
the Lord's power, is the ultimate, beginningless ignorance made up of
the three qualities (gunas), the pure Maya knowable through its effects,
out of which this whole world is produced. 108

It cannot be said to either
exist or not exist, to be divisible or indivisible, composite or unitary
or both. It is amazing and indescribable. 109

It can be overcome by the
realisation of the pure non-dual God, like the false idea of a snake
through the recognition of the rope. It is composed of the three
qualities (gunas) of passion, dullness and purity, recognised by their
effects. 110

The distracting power of
passion is by nature active, and from it the primeval emanation of
activity has taken place. The mental states like desire and pain
continually arise from it as well. 111

Lust, anger, greed, pride,
envy, self-importance and jealousy - these are the awful effects
produced by passion. Consequently this passion quality is the cause of
bondage. 112

The veiling effect of the
dullness quality is the power that distorts the appearance of things. It
is the cause of samsara in man, and what leads to the activation of the
distracting power (of passion). 113

Even a wise and learned man
and an adept in the knowledge of the extremely subtle self can be
overcome by dullness, and fail to realise it, even when demonstrated it
in many different ways. What is presented by delusion he looks on as
good, and grasps at its qualities. Such, alas, is the strength of the
great veiling power of this awful dullness quality! 114

Lack of sense or distorted
understanding, lack of judgement, and bewilderment - these never leave
him who is caught in this delusion, and the distracting power torments
him continually. 115

Ignorance, laziness,
drowsiness, sleep, carelessness, stupidity and so on are the effects of
the dullness quality. One stuck in these does not understand anything,
but remains as if asleep, like a wooden post. 116

Clear purity is like water,
but combined with these other qualities it leads to samsara, though in
this purity the nature of the self is reflected, like the disk of the
sun illuminating the whole world. 117

In purity mixed with the
other qualities virtues such as humility, restraint, truthfulness,
faith, devotion, desire for liberation, spiritual tendencies and freedom
from entanglement occur. 118

In real purity however the
qualities which occur are contentment, self-understanding, supreme
peace, fulfilment, joy and abiding in one's supreme self, through which
one experiences real bliss. 119

This Inexpressible,
described as made up of the three qualities (gunas), is the active body
of the self. Deep sleep is a special condition of it, in which the
activity of all functions of awareness cease. 120

Deep sleep is the cessation
of all forms of awareness, and the reversion of consciousness to a
latent form of the self. "I knew nothing" is the universal
experience. 121

The body, its functions,
vital energies, the thinking mind, etc., and all forms, objects,
enjoyment, etc. the physical elements such as the ether, in fact
everything up to this Inexpressible are not one's true nature. 122

Everything is the creation
of Maya from space itself down to the individual body. Look on it all as
a desert mirage, unreal and not yourself. 123

Now I will instruct you in
the true nature of your supreme self, by understanding which a man is
freed from his bonds and achieves final fulfilment. 124

There IS something your own,
unchanging, the "I", the substratum, the basis, which is the
triple observer, distinct from the five sheaths. 125

The awareness that knows
everything whether waking, dreaming or in deed sleep, and whether or not
there is movement in the mind, that is the "I". 126

It is that which experiences
everything, but which nothing else can experience, which thinks through
the intelligence etc., but which nothing else can think. - 127

It is that by which all this
is filled, but which nothing else can fill, and which, in shining, makes
all this shines as well. 128

It is that whose mere
presence makes the body, bodily senses, and mind etc. keep to their
appropriate functions like servants. 129

It is that by which
everything from the ego function down to the body is known like an
earthen vessel, for its very nature is everlasting consciousness. 130

This is one's inmost nature,
the eternal Person, whose very essence is unbroken awareness of
happiness, who is ever unchanging and pure consciousness, and in
obedience to whom the various bodily function continue. 131

In one of pure nature, the
morning light of the Unmanifest shines even here in the cave of the
mind, illuminating all this with its glory, like the sun up there in
space. 132

That which knows the
thinking mind and ego functions takes its form from the body with its
senses and other functions, like fire does in a ball of iron, but it
neither acts nor changes in any way. 133

It is never born, never
dies, grows, decays, or changes. Even when the body is destroyed it does
not cease to be, like the space in an earthen vessel. 134

The true self, of the nature
of pure consciousness, and separate from the productions of nature,
illuminates all this, real and unreal, without itself changing. It plays
in the states of waking and so on, as the foundation sense of 'I exist',
as the awareness, witness of all experience. 135

By means of a trained mind,
and thanks to your faculty of understanding, experience in practice the
true self of this 'I exist' in yourself, cross the ocean of Samsara's
waves of birth and death, and established in the nature of God, and
achieve the goal (of life). 136

Seeing 'This is me' in what
is not really oneself, this is man's bondage, the result of ignorance
and the cause of the descent into the pain of birth and death. It is
because of this that one sees this unreal body as real, and identifying
oneself with it, feeds it and cares for it with the senses, like a grub
in its cocoon. 137

One who is confused by lack
of clarity sees something which is not there, like a man mistaking a
rope for a snake through lack of understanding, and experiencing great
pain etc. from mistakenly taking hold of it. So, my friend, hear this -
Bondage is thinking that something non-existent exists. 138

This obscuring power
conceals the infinite glory of one's true self which radiates with its
indivisible, eternal and unified power of understanding, like an eclipse
obscures the sun's disk, and creates darkness. 139

When he has lost sight of
his true self, immaculate and resplendent, a man identifies himself with
his body out of ignorance. Then the great so-called dispersive power
torments him with its fetters of continuous desire, hatred etc. 140

When a man has fallen to the
state of being swallowed up by the great shark of ignorance, he assumes
to himself the various states superimposed upon him, and in a pitiful
state wanders rising and sinking in the great ocean of Samsara. 141

Just as cloud formations,
arising from the suns rays, obscure the sun and fill the sky, so the
sense of self-identity, arising from one's true nature, obscures the
existence of the true self and itself fills experience. 142

Just as the thick clouds
covering the sun on a bad day are buffeted by cold, howling blasts of
wind, so, when one's true nature is obscured by deep ignorance, the
strong dispersive power torments the confused understanding with many
afflictions. 143

It is from these powers that
man's bondage has arisen. Confused by them, he mistakes the body for
himself and wanders in error. 144

The seed of the Samsara tree
is ignorance, identification with the body is its shoot, desire is its
first leaves, activity its water, the bodily frame its trunk, the vital
forces its branches, the faculties its twigs, the senses its flowers,
the manifold pains arising from various actions its fruit, and the bird
on it is the individual experiencing them. 145

Ignorance is the root of
this bondage to what is not one's true nature, a bondage which is called
beginningless and endless. It gives rise to the long course of suffering
- birth, death, sickness, old age, etc. 146

It cannot be destroyed by
weapons, wind or fire, nor even by countless actions - by nothing, in
fact, except by the wonderful sword of wisdom, sharpened by God's grace.
147

He who is devoted to the
authority of the scriptures achieves steadiness in his religious life,
and that brings inner purity. The man of pure understanding comes to the
experience of his true nature, and by this Samsara is destroyed, root
and all. 148

One's true nature does not
shine out when covered by the five sheaths, material and otherwise,
although they are the product of its own power, like the water in a
pool, covered with algae. 149

On removing the algae, the
clean, thirst-quenching and joy-inducing water is revealed to a man. 150

When the five sheaths have
been removed, the supreme light shines forth, pure, eternally blissful,
single in essence, and within. 151

To be free from bondage the
wise man must practise discrimination between self and non-self. By that
alone he will become full of joy, recognising himself as Being,
Consciousness and Bliss. 152

Just as one separates a
blade of grass from its sheaths, so by discriminating one's true nature
as internal, unattached and free from action, and abandoning all else,
one is free and identified only with one's true self. 153

This body is the product of
food, and constitutes the material sheath. It depends on food and dies
without it. It is a mass of skin, flesh, blood, bones and uncleanness.
It is not fit to see as oneself, who is ever pure. 154

The body did not exist
before birth, nor will it exist after death. It is born for a moment,
its qualities are momentary, and it is inherently changing. It is not a
single thing, but inert, and should be viewed like an earthen pot. How
could it be one's true self, which is the observer of changing
phenomena? 155

Made up of arms and legs and
so on, the body cannot be one's true self as it can live on without
various limbs, and other faculties persist without them. What is
controlled cannot be the controller. 156

While the body of the
observer is of a specific nature, behaviour and situation, it is clear
that the nature of one's true self is devoid of characteristics. 157

How could the body, which is
a heap of bones, covered with flesh, full of filth and highly impure, be
oneself, the featureless observer? 158

The deluded man makes the
assumption that he is the mass of skin, flesh, fat bones and filth,
while the man who is strong in discrimination knows himself as devoid of
characteristics, the innate supreme Reality. 159

'I am the body' is the
opinion of the fool. 'I am body and soul' is the view of the scholar,
while for the great-souled, discriminating man, his inner knowledge is
'I am God'. 160

Get rid of the opinion of
yourself as this mass of skin, flesh, fat, bones and filth, foolish one,
and make yourself instead the self of everything, the God beyond all
thought, and enjoy supreme peace. 161

While the scholar does not
overcome his sense of 'I am this' in the body and its faculties, there
is no liberation for him, however much he may be learned in religion and
philosophy. 162

Just as you have no self
identification with your shadow-body, reflection-body, dream-body or
imagination-body, so you should not have with the living body either.
163

Identification of oneself
with the body is the seed of the pain of birth etc. in people attached
to the unreal, so get rid of it with care. When this thought is
eliminated, there is no more desire for rebirth. 164

The vital energy joined to
the five activities forms the vitality sheath, by which the material
sheath is filled, and engages in all these activities. 165

The Breath, being a product
of the vital energy, is not one's true nature either. Like the air, it
enters and leaves the body, and knows neither its own or other people's
good or bad, dependent as it is on something else. 166

The faculty of knowledge and
the mind itself constitute the mind-made sheath, the cause of such
distinctions as 'me' and 'mine'. It is strong and has the faculty of
creating distinctions of perception etc., and works itself through the
vitality sheath. 167

The mind-made fire burns the
multiplicity of experience in the fuel of numerous desires of the senses
presented as oblations in the form of sense objects by the five senses
like five priests. 168

There is no such thing as
ignorance beyond the thinking mind. Thought is itself ignorance, the
cause of the bondage of becoming. When thought is eliminated, everything
else is eliminated. When thought increases everything else increases.
169

In sleep which is devoid of
actual experience, it is the mind alone which produces everything, the
experiencer and everything else, by its own power, and in the waking
state there is no difference. All this is the product of the mind. 170

In deep sleep when the
thinking mind has gone into abeyance there is nothing, by every one's
experience, so man's Samsara is a mind creation, and has no real
existence. 171

Cloud is gathered by the
wind, and is driven away by it too. Bondage is imagined by the mind, and
liberation is imagined by it too. 172

By dwelling with desire on
the body and other senses the mind binds a man like an animal with a
rope, and the same mind liberates him from the bond by creating simple
distaste for the senses as if they were poison. 173

Thus the mind is the cause
of a man's finding both bondage and liberation. When soiled with the
attribute of desire it is the cause of bondage, and when clear of desire
and ignorance it is the cause of liberation. 174

By achieving the purity of
an habitual discrimination and dispassion, the mind is inclined to
liberation, so the wise seeker after liberation should first develop
these. 175

A great tiger known as the
mind lives in the forest of the senses, so pious seekers after
liberation should not go there. 176

The mind continually
presents endless coarse or subtle sense experiences for a person -- all
the differences of physique, caste, state and birth, and the fruits
resulting from attributes and actions. 177

The mind continually
confuses that which is by nature unattached, binding it with the fetters
of body, senses and faculties so that it thinks in terms of 'me' and
'mine' in the experiences he is achieving. 178

Man's Samsara is due to the
error of additions (to his true nature), and it is from the mind's
imagination that the bondage of these additions comes. This is the cause
of the pain of birth and so on for the man without discrimination who is
filled with desire and ignorance. 179

That is why the wise who
have experienced reality call the mind ignorance, for it is by that that
everything is driven, like a mass of clouds by the wind. 180

So the mind must be
earnestly purified by the seeker after liberation. Once it is purified,
the fruit of liberation comes easily to hand. 181

Completely rooting out
desire for the senses and abandoning all activity by one-pointed
devotion to liberation, he who is established with true faith in study
etc., purges away the passion from his understanding. 182

What is mind-made cannot be
one's true nature, because it is changeable, having a beginning and an
end, because it is subject to pain, and because it is itself an object.
The knower cannot be seen as an object of consciousness. 183

The intellect along with its
faculties, its activities and its characteristic of seeing itself as the
agent, constitutes the knowledge sheath which is the cause of man's
samsara. 184

Intellectual knowledge which
as a function is a distant reflection of pure consciousness, is a
natural faculty. It continually creates the awareness 'I exist', and
strongly identifies itself with the body, its faculties and so on. 185

This sense of self is from
beginningless time. As the person it is the agent of all relative
occupations. Through its proclivities from the past it performs good and
bad actions, and bears their fruit. 186

After experiencing them it
is born in all sorts of different wombs, and progresses up and down in
life, the experiencer of the knowledge-created states of waking,
sleeping etc., and of pleasure and pain. 187

It always sees as its own
such things as the body, and its circumstances, states, duties, actions
and functions. The knowledge sheath is very impressive owing to its
inherent affinity to the supreme self, which, identifying itself with
the superimposition, experiences samsara because of this illusion. 188

This knowledge-created light
shines among the faculties of the heart, and the true self, although
itself motionless, becomes the actor and the experiencer while
identified with this superimposition. 189

Allied to the intellect,
just a part of itself, although the true self of everything, and beyond
the limitations of such an existence, it identifies itself with this
illusory self - as if clay were to identify itself with earthen jars.
190

In conjunction with such
additional qualities, the supreme self seems to manifest the same
characteristics, just as the undifferentiated fire seems to take on the
qualities of the iron it heats. 191

The disciple

Whether it is by mistake or
for some other reason that the supreme self has become a living being,
the identification is beginningless, and there can be no end to what has
no beginning. 192

So the state of a living
being is going to be a continual samsara, and there can be no liberation
for it. Can you explain this to me? 193

The teacher

You have asked the right
question, wise one, so now listen. The mistaken imagination of illusion
is not a reality. 194

Outside of illusion no
attachment can come about for what is by nature unattached, actionless
and formless, as in the case of blueness and space (the sky). 195

Existence as a living being,
due to the mistaken intellect identifying itself with its own light, the
inner joy of understanding, beyond qualities and beyond activity does
not really exist, so when the illusion ceases, it does too, having no
real existence of its own. 196

So long as the illusion
exists, it too has existence, created by the confusion of
misunderstanding, in the same way that a rope seems to be a snake so
long as the illusion persists. When the illusion comes to an end, so
does the snake. 197

Ignorance and its effects
are seen as beginningless until with the arising of insight, ignorance
and its effects are destroyed along with its root, even if beginningless,
like dreams on awaking from sleep. Even if beginningless this world of
appearances is not eternal - like something originally non-existent.
198, 199

Even if beginningless,
something originally non-existent is seen to come to an end. In the same
way the living organism which is thought to belong to oneself through
its identification with the intellect, does not really exist. On the
other hand, the true self is quite distinct from it, and the
identification of oneself with the intellect is due to misunderstanding.
200, 201

Even if beginningless,
something originally non-existent is seen to come to an end. In the same
way the living organism which is thought to belong to oneself through
its identification with the intellect, does not really exist. On the
other hand, the true self is quite distinct from it, and the
identification of oneself with the intellect is due to misunderstanding.
200, 201

The cessation of that wrong
identification is achieved by right understanding, and by no other
means. Right understanding is held by scripture to be the recognition of
the oneness of God and oneself. 202

This recognition is achieved
by right discrimination between what is truly oneself and what is not,
so one must develop this discrimination between the conventional self
and one's true self. 203

Like very muddy water, which
is clearly water again when the mud is removed, one's true self shines
forth again when the contamination is removed. 204

When the non-existent is
removed the individual is disclosed as the supreme self, so one must see
to the removal of thoughts about "me" and suchlike from
oneself. 205

The level of sense awareness
cannot be one's true self since it is changeable, physical, restricted,
a sense-object and intermittent. What is transient should not be
mistaken what is eternal. 206

The level of pleasure is the
aspect of ignorance which is a sort of reflection the blissfulness of
the true self. Its attributes are the qualities of enjoyment and so on,
which are experienced when an enjoyable object is present. It presents
itself spontaneously to those fortunate enough to experience the fruits
of good deeds, something from which everyone experiences great pleasure
without trying to. 207

The pleasure level is
manifest at its fullest extent in deep sleep, whereas in dreams and the
waking state it is only partially manifest, stimulated by such things as
the sight of enjoyable objects. 208

The pleasure level cannot be
the true self either, since it is changeable, a conditioned phenomenon,
the result of good deeds, and involved in the other levels of
consciousness as well. 209

When all these five levels
have been disposed of by meditating on scripture, when everything as
been eliminated there remains the witness, pure consciousness itself.
210

This self, the light itself,
beyond the five levels, the witness of the three states, changeless,
unsullied, eternal joy - this should be recognised by the wise as one's
real self. 211

The disciple

After transcending these
five levels as unreal, master, I find nothing but a nothingness, the
absence of everything. What object remains for a wise person to identify
with? 212

The teacher

You have spoken the truth,
learned one. You are skilled in discrimination. That by which all other
phenomena, starting with the thought of "me", are experienced,
but which is itself experienced by none, know that, by the subtlest of
understanding, as your true self. 213, 214

Whatever is experienced by
something else has that as its witness. When there is nothing else to
experience something, one cannot talk of it being witnessed. 215

This has the nature of
self-awareness, since it is conscious of itself. Thus the individual
self is by its self-awareness none other than the Supreme itself. 216

That which is fully manifest
in the waking state, dream and deep sleep, which is perceived within in
the form of the various experiences and impressions like
self-consciousness, and which is experienced as the eternal Bliss, and
Consciousness of one's true self, see this within your own heart. 217

The ignorant see the
reflection of the sun in the water of a jar and think it is the sun
itself. In the same way the fool sees the reflection of consciousness in
its associated qualities and mistakenly identifies himself with it. 218

The wise man ignores jar,
water and the sun's reflection in it, and sees the self-illuminating sun
itself which gives light to all three but is independent of them. 219

When a man abandons the body
and the intellect which is just a derivative of consciousness, and
recognising one's true self, the experiencer, pure awareness, the source
of everything existent and non-existent, itself devoid of attributes,
eternal, all-pervading, omnipresent, subtle, empty of inside and
outside, and itself none other than one's true self (for this is truly
inborn), he becomes free from evil, sinless and immortal, free from
pain, and the incarnation of joy. Master of himself he is afraid of
no-one. There is no other way to the breaking of the bonds of temporal
existence for the seeker after liberation than the realisation of his
own true nature. 220, 221, 222

The recognition of one's
inseparable oneness with God is the means of liberation from temporal
existence, by which the wise person achieves the non-dual, blissful
nature of God. 223

Having attained the nature
of God, the knower returns no more to the temporal state, so it is
essential to recognise one's own true inseparable oneness with God. 224

God is the truth, knowledge
and eternal. He is pure, transcendent and self-sufficient - the
everlasting, undiluted bliss which is enthroned undivided and
inseparable within. 225

This supreme Reality is
non-dual in the absence of any other reality beside itself. In the state
of knowledge of ultimate truth there is nothing else. 226

This great variety of things
which we experience through our failure to understand is all really God
himself, once the distortion of thought is removed. 227

A pot made of clay is
nothing other than clay, and its true reality is always simply clay. The
pot is no more than the shape of a pot, and is just a mistake of
imagination based on the name. 228

No one can show that the
reality of the pot is different from the clay, so the pot is just an
imagination based on misunderstanding, and the clay is the only final
reality. 229

Similarly everything which
is made of God is just God and has no separate existence. Whoever says
it exists is not yet free from delusion and is like someone talking in
his sleep. 230

The supreme scripture of the
Arthava Veda declares that "All this is God", so all this is
simply God, and anything in addition to that has no reality. 231

If it has any reality, that
is the end of any eternal reality for oneself, the scriptures are false,
and the Lord himself a liar, three things which are quite unacceptable
to great souls. 232

The Lord, who knows the
reality of things, has stated "I do not depend on them"
(Bhagavad Gita 9.4) and "Things do not exist in me" (Bhagavad
Gita 9.5). 233

If everything really
existed, it ought to exist in deep sleep too. Since nothing does, then
it follows that it is unreal and an illusion like a dream. 234

So the world is not distinct
from the Supreme Self, and its perception is an illusion like all
attributes. What we add to That has no reality, but merely appears to
exist in addition to That through misunderstanding. 235

Whatever a deluded person
experiences in his delusion is still always God. The silver is only
mother-of-pearl. It is always God that is mistaken for something else,
and whatever is added to God is just a name. 236

So there exists only the
supreme God, the One Reality without a second, consisting of pure
consciousness, without any blemish, peace itself and without beginning
or end, actionless and having the nature of pure bliss. 237

Seers know this supreme
Reality, free from the distinctions of knower, known and knowledge,
infinite, complete in itself and consisting of pure Awareness. 239

What cannot be got rid of or
taken hold of, beyond the sphere of mind and speech, measureless and
beginning-and-endless is God, one's true self and supreme glory. 240

The words "God"
and "yourself", referred to by the terms "That" and
"Thou" are conscientiously purified by repetition of the
scriptural phrase "Thou art That", and are clearly seen to be
identical. 241

Their identity can be
indicated but not described, since they have mutually exclusive meanings
like a firefly and the sun, a king and a slave, a well and the ocean, or
an atom and mount Meru. 242

The distinction between them
is due to the imagined additional associations, but in reality there are
no such additions. The primary mental activity is due to the Lord's
Maya, and in the case of the individual it is the result of the five
sheaths. 243

These are additions to the
Lord and the individual, and when they are removed, there is neither
Supreme nor individual. A ruler is known by his kingdom, and a warrior
by his arms. Take these away, and there is neither warrior nor king. 244

Scripture itself, with the
words "Here is the teaching" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6),
denies the imagined duality in God. One must get rid of these additions
by means of understanding backed up by the authority of the scriptures.
245

" Not this, not
this" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6) means that nothing one can
think of is real, like a rope mistaken for a snake, or like a dream.
Carefully getting rid of the apparent in this way, one should then come
to understand the oneness of the Lord and the individual. 246

So the meaning of these two
expressions, Lord and individual, must be carefully considered until
their essential oneness is understood. It is not enough just to reject
or accept either of them. One must come to the recognition of the
identity of the meaning of them both. 247

In the phrase "this
person is Devadatta" the identity is indicated by removing the
distinction, and in the same way, in the expression "Thou art
That" the wise must get rid of the apparent contradiction and
recognise the complete identity of God and self by carefully identifying
the shared attribute of pure consciousness. Hundreds of scriptural
sayings declare the identity of oneself and God in this way. 248, 249

In accordance with "It
is nothing material" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.8.8) eliminate the
unreal and find that which like the sky is pure and solitary, and is
beyond thought. Eliminate too this purely illusory body which you have
hitherto identified with yourself. Then recognising, "I am
God" with purified understanding, see your true self as
undifferentiated consciousness. 250

Everything made of clay,
such as pot, is always to be seen as purely clay. In the same way,
everything deriving from this supreme Self must be simply recognised as
pure Reality. Since there is no reality beyond that, it is truly one's
very self, and you are that still, unblemished, non-dual, supreme
Reality of God. 251

Just as the things like
places, time, objects and observer imagined in a dream are unreal, so
the world experienced in the waking state too is created by one's own
ignorance. Since the body-creating forces, self-identification, and so
on, are also unreal, you are that still, unblemished, non-dual, supreme
Reality of God. 252

That which is mistakenly
imagined to exist is recognised by wisdom to be That alone, and is thus
undifferentiated. The colourful world of a dream disappears. What
remains other than oneself on waking? 253

Beyond birth, creed, family
and tribe, free from the distortion of attributes of name and
appearance, transcending locality, time and objects, you are That, God
himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 254

That supreme Reality beyond
the realm of anything that can be said, but the resort of the pure eye
of understanding, the pure reality of Consciousness-Awareness-Mind, etc.
- you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 255

That which is unaffected by
the six afflictions (of aging, death, hunger, thirst, desire and
ignorance), which is meditated on in the heart of the devotee,
unrecognised by the senses, unknown by the intellect - you are That, God
himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 256

That basis on which the
mistakenly imagined world exists, itself dependent on nothing else,
devoid of true and false, without parts, and without mental image - you
are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 257

That which is
indestructible, free from birth, growth, development, decay, illness and
death; which is the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction
of everything - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within
yourself. 258

Free of parts, of an
unchanging quality, undisturbed like a waveless sea, declared to be of
an eternally indivisible nature - you are That, God ihimself. Meditate
on the fact within yourself. 259

Itself One but the cause of
the many, the supreme Cause which does away with all other causes,
itself devoid of distinctions of "cause" and
"effect" - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact
within yourself. 260

Without modification, great
and unending, the supreme Reality beyond destruction and
indestructibility, the eternal unfading, unblemished, fulfilment - you
are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 261

That Reality which manifests
itself as the many through the illusions of names, shapes, attributes
and changes, but which, like gold is always itself unchanged (in
different objects) - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact
within yourself. 262

That, beyond which there is
nothing, but which shines beyond everything else, the inner, uniform
self-nature of being-consciousness-joy, infinite and eternal - you are
That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 263

One should meditate within
oneself with the mind well controlled on the truth declared here. Then
the truth will be disclosed free from doubt, like water in the palm of
one's hand. 264

Realising one's true nature
as pure consciousness, one should remain always established in oneself,
like a king surrounded by his army, and should redirect all that is back
into God. 265

In the cave of the mind,
free from attributes of being and not-being, there exists God, the
Truth, supreme and without a second. He who by himself dwells in that
cave returns no more to a mother's womb. 266

Even when one knows the
truth, there still remains the strong, beginningless tendency to think
"I am the doer and the reaper of the consequences" which is
the cause of samsara. It must be carefully removed by living in the
state of observing the truth within oneself. The wise call that removal
of this tendency liberation. 267

The tendency to see
"me" and "mine" in the body and the senses, which
are not oneself must be done way with by the wise by remaining
identified with one's true self. 268

Recognising one's true inner
self, the witness of the mind and its operations, and reflecting on the
truth of "I am That", get rid of this wrong opinion about
oneself. 269

Abandoning the concerns of
the world, abandoning concern about the body, and abandoning even
concern about scriptures, see to the removal wrong assumptions about
yourself. 270

It is owing to people's
worldly desires, their desires for scriptures, and their desires
concerning their bodies that they do not achieve realisation. 271

Those who know about these
things call these three desires the iron fetter that binds the feet of
those who are seeking escape from the prison-house of samsara. He who is
free from them reaches liberation. 272

The beautiful smell of aloe
wood which is masked by a bad smell through contamination by water and
such things becomes evident again when it is rubbed clean. 273

Desire for one's true self
which is veiled by endless internal other desires becomes pure and
evident again like the smell of sandalwood through application with
wisdom. 274

When the mass of desires for
things other than oneself obscuring the contrary desire for one's real
self are eliminated by constant self-remembrance, then it discloses
itself of its own accord. 275

As the mind becomes more and
more inward-turned, it becomes gradually freed from external desires,
and when all such desires are fully eliminated self-realisation is
completely freed from obstruction. 276

When he is always poised in
self-awareness the yogi's thinking mind stops, and the cessation of
desires takes place as a result, so see to the removal of all ideas of
additions to your true self. 277

Dullness (tamas) is removed
by passion (rajas) and purity (sattva), desire is removed by purity, and
purity when itself purified, so establishing yourself in purity, see to
the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self. 278

Recognising that the effects
of past conditioning will sustain the body, remain undisturbed and work
away hard at seeing to the removal of all ideas of additions to your
true self. 279

" I am not the
individual life. I am God." Getting rid of all previous
misidentifications like this, see to the removal of all ideas of
additions to your true self created by the power of desires. 280

Recognising yourself as the
self of everything by the authority of scripture, by reasoning and by
personal experience, see to the removal of all ideas of additions to
your true self whenever they manifest themselves. 281

The wise man has no business
concerning himself with the acquisition or disposal of things, so by
adherence to the one reality, see to the removal of all ideas of
additions to your true self. 282

Realising the identity of
yourself and God by the help of sayings like "You are That",
see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self so as to
strengthen the adherence of yourself in God. 283

Eliminate completely your
self-identification with this body, and with determination see that your
mind is devoted to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true
self. 284

So long as even a dream-like
awareness of yourself as an individual in the world remains, as a wise
person persistently see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your
true self. 285

Without giving way to the
least descent into forgetfulness through sleep, worldly affairs or the
various senses, meditate on yourself within. 286

Shunning the body which is
derived from the impurities of your mother and father and itself made up
of impurities and flesh as you would an outcaste from a good distance,
become Godlike and achieve the goal of life. 287

Restoring the self in you to
the supreme Self like the space in a jar back to Space itself by
meditation on their indivisibility, always remain silent, wise one. 288

Taking up through your true
self the condition of your real glory, reject thoughts of a divine
universe as much as of yourself as a reality, as you would a dish of
filth. 289

Transferring your present
self-identification with the body to yourself as consciousness, being
and bliss, abandon the body and be complete forever. 290

When you know "I am
that very God" in which the reflection of the world appears, like a
city in a mirror, then you will be one who has achieved the goal of
life. 291

Attaining that Reality which
is self-existent and primal, non-dual consciousness, and bliss, formless
and actionless, one should abandon the unreal body taken on by oneself,
like an actor doffing his costume. 292

All this experienced by
oneself is false, and so is the sense of I-hood in view of its ephemeral
nature. How can "I know everything" be true of something which
is itself ephemeral. 293

That which warrants the term
"I" on the other hand is that which is the observer of the
thought "I" etc. in view of its permanent existence even in
the state of deep sleep. Scripture itself declares that it is
"unborn and eternal" (Katha Upanishad 1.2.18). That true inner
self is distinct from both being and not-being. 294

The knower of all the
changes in changing things must itself be permanent and unchanging. The
unreality in the extremes of being and not-being is repeatedly seen in
the experience of thought, dreaming and deep sleep. 295

So give up identification
with this mass of flesh as well as with what thinks it a mass. Both are
intellectual imaginations. Recognise your true self as undifferentiated
awareness, unaffected by time, past, present or future, and enter Peace.
296

Give up identification with
family, tribe, name, shape and status which depend on the putrid body.
Give up physical properties too such as the sense of being the doer and
be the very nature of undifferentiated joy. 297

There are other obstacles
seen to be the cause of samsara for men. Of these the root and first
manifestation is the sense of doership. 298

So long as one has any
association with this awful sense of being the doer there cannot be the
least achievement of liberation which is something very different. 299

Free from the grasp of
feeling oneself the doer, one achieves ones true nature which is, like
the moon, pure, consummate, self-illuminating being and bliss. 300

Even he who, with a mind
under the influence of strong dullness, has thought of himself as the
body, will attain to full identification with God when that delusion is
completely removed. 301

The treasure of the bliss of
God is coiled round by the very powerful, terrible snake of doership
which guards it with its three fierce heads consisting of the three
qualities (dullness, passion and purity) but the wise man can enjoy this
bliss-imparting treasure by cutting off the snake's three heads with the
great sword of understanding of the scriptures. 302

How can one be free from
pain so long as there is there is any trace of poison in the body? The
same applies to the pain of self-consciousness in an aspirant's
liberation. 303

In the total cessation of
self-identification and the ending of the multifarious mental
misrepresentations it causes, the truth of "This is what I am"
is achieved through inner discernment. 304

Get rid forthwith of
doership, your self-identification, that is, with the agent, a distorted
vision of yourself which stops you from resting in your true nature, and
by identification with which you, who are really pure consciousness and
a manifestation of joy itself, experience samsara with all its birth,
decay, death and suffering. 305

You are really unchanging,
the eternally unvarying Lord, consciousness, bliss and indestructible
glory. If it were not for the wrong identification with a false self you
would not be subject to samsara. 306

So cut down your enemy, this
sense of being the doer, with the great sword of knowledge, caught like
a splinter in the throat of some-one having a meal, and enjoy to your
heart's content the joy of the possession of your true nature. 307

Stop the activity of the
false self-identification and so on, get rid of desire by the attainment
of the supreme Reality, and practice silence in the experience of the
joy of your true self, free from fantasies, with your true nature
fulfilled in God. 308

Even when thoroughly
eradicated, a great sense of doership can revive again and create a
hundred different distractions, if it is once dwelt on again for a
moment in the mind, like monsoon rain-clouds driven on by the wind. 309

Overcoming the enemy of the
false self, one should give it no opportunity by dwelling on the senses
again, because that is the way it comes back to life, like water for a
withered citrous tree. 310

He who is attached to the
idea of himself as the body is desirous of physical pleasure, but how
could some-one devoid of such an idea seek physical pleasure? Hence
separation from one's true good is the cause of bondage to samsara since
one is stuck in seeing things as separate from oneself. 311

A seed is seen to grow with
the development of the necessary conditions, while the failure of the
conditions leads to the failure of the seed. So one must remove these
conditions. 312

The increase of desires
leads to activity, and from the increase of activity there is more
desire. Thus a man prospers in every way, and samsara never comes to an
end. 313

To break the bonds of
samsara, the ascetic should burn away both of these (desire and
activity), since thinking about these and external activity lead to the
increase of desires. 314

The increase of these two is
the cause of one's samsara, and the means to the destruction of these
three is to see everything as simply God everywhere, always and in all
circumstances. By the increase of desire for becoming the Truth, these
three come to an end. 315, 316

Through the stopping of
activity there comes the stopping of thinking, and then the cessation of
desires. The cessation of desires is liberation, and is what is known as
here-and-now liberation. 317

When the force of the desire
for the Truth blossoms, selfish desires wither away, just like darkness
vanishes before the radiance of the light of dawn. 318

Darkness and the mass of
evils produced by darkness no longer exist when the sun has risen.
Similarly, when one has tasted undifferentiated bliss, no bondage or
trace of suffering remains. 319

Transcending everything to
do with the senses, cultivating the blissful and only Truth, and at
peace within and without - this is how one should pass one's time so
long as any bonds of karma remain. 320

One should never permit
carelessness in one's adherence to God. "Carelessness is
death" (Mahabharata 5.42.43) says the Master (Sanatkumara) who was
of Brahma's son. 321

There is no greater evil
than carelessness about his own true nature for a wise man. From this
comes delusion, from this comes misconceptions about oneself, from this
comes bondage, from this comes suffering. 322

Forgetfulness afflicts even
a wise man with harmful mental states when it finds him well-disposed to
the senses, like a woman does her infatuated lover. 323

Just as the algae cleared
off water does not stay off even for a moment, so illusion obscures the
sight of even a wise man whose mind is outward-directed. 324

When the mind loses its
direction towards its goal and becomes outward-turned it runs from one
thing to another, like a play-ball carelessly dropped on the steps of
some stairs. 325

A mind directed towards the
senses dwells with imagination on their qualities. From imagining
finally comes desire, and from desire comes the way a man directs his
activity. 326

As a result, there is no
death like carelessness in meditation to the wise knower of God. The
meditator achieves perfect fulfilment, so carefully practice peace of
mind. 327

From carelessness one turns
aside from one's true nature, and he who turns aside from it slips
downwards. He who has thus fallen invariably comes to disaster, but is
not seen to rise again. 328

So one should abandon the
imagination which is the cause of all ills. He has reached fulfilment
who is completely dead while still alive. The Yajur Veda (Taittiriya
Upanishad 2.7) declares there is still something to fear for anyone who
still sees distinctions in things. 329

Whenever a wise man sees the
least distinction in the infinite God, whatever he has carelessly
perceived as a distinction then becomes a source of fear for him. 330

When, in spite of hundreds
of testimonies to the contrary in the Vedas and other scriptures, one
identifies oneself with anything to do with the senses, one experiences
countless sorrows, doing something prohibited like a thief. 331

He who is devoted to
meditating on the Truth attains the eternal glory of his true nature,
while he who delights in dwelling on the unreal perishes. This can be
seen even in the case of whether someone is a thief or not. 332

An ascetic should abandon
dwelling on the unreal which is the cause of bondage, and should fix his
attention on himself in his knowledge that "This is what I
am". Establishment in God through self-awareness leads to joy and
finally removes the suffering caused by ignorance. 333

Dwelling on externals
increases the fruit of superfluous evil desires for all sorts of things,
so wisely recognising this fact, one should abandon externals and
cultivate attention to one's true nature within. 334

When externals are abandoned
there comes peace of mind. When the mind is at peace there comes
awareness of one's supreme self. When that is fully experienced there
comes the destruction of the bonds of samsara, so abandonment of
externals is the road to liberation. 335

What man, being learned, and
aware of the distinction between real and unreal, relying on the
scriptures and seeking the supreme goal of life, would knowingly, like a
child, hanker after resting in the unreal, the cause of his own
downfall. 336

There is no liberation for
him who is deliberately attached to the body and such things, while
there is no self-identification with such things as the body for a
liberated man. There is no being awake for some-one asleep, nor sleep
for some-one awake, for these two states are by their very nature
distinct. 337

He who knows himself within
and without, and recognises himself as the underlying support in all
things moving and unmoving, remaining indivisible, fulfilled in himself
by abandoning all that is not himself - he is liberated. 338

The means of liberation from
bondage is through the one self in everything, and there is nothing
higher than this one self in everything. When one does not cling to
anything to do with the senses, one achieves these things, and being the
one self in everything depends on resting in one's true self. 339

How is not clinging to the
senses possible when one's basis is self-identification with the body,
and one's mind is attached to enjoying external pleasures, and on doing
whatever is necessary to do so? But it can be achieved within themselves
by those who have abandoned all objects of rules and observances, who
are always resting in self-awareness, who know the Truth and
energetically seek the bliss of Reality. 340

Scripture prescribes
meditation for realisation of the self in everything to the ascetic who
has fulfilled the requirement of listening to scripture, saying "At
peace and self-controlled" and so on (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
4.4.23). 341

Even wise men cannot get rid
of the sense of doership all of a sudden when it has grown strong, but
those who are unwavering in so-called imageless samadhi can, whose
desire for this has been developed over countless lives. 342

The outward-turning power of
the mind binds a man to the sense of doership by its veiling effect, and
confuses him by the attributes of that power. 343

To overcome the
outward-turning power of the mind is hard to accomplish without
completely eliminating the veiling effect, but the covering over one's
inner self can be removed by discriminating between seer and objects,
like between milk and water. Absence of an barrier is finally
unquestionable when there is no longer any distraction caused by
illusory objects. 344

Perfect discrimination, born
of direct experience establishing the truth of the distinction between
seer and objects, severs the bonds of delusion produced by Maya (the
creative power, which makes things appear to exist), and as a result the
liberated person is no longer subject to samsara. 345

The fire of the knowledge of
the oneness of above and below burns up completely the tangled forest of
ignorance. What seed of samsara could there still be for such a person
who has achieved non-duality? 346

The veiling effect only
disappears with full experience of Reality, and the elimination of false
knowledge leads to the end of the suffering caused by that distraction.
347

These three (the removal of
veiling effect, false knowlege and suffering) are clearly apparent in
the case of recognising the true nature of the rope, so a wise man
should get to know the truth about the underlying reality if he wants to
be liberated from his bonds. 348

Like fire in conjunction
with iron, the mind manifests itself as knower and objects by dependence
on something real, but as the duality that causes is seen to be unreal
in the case of delusions, dreams and fantasies, so the products of
natural causation, from the idea of doership down to the body itself and
all its senses, are also unreal in view of the way they are changing
every moment, while one's true nature itself never changes. 349, 350

The supreme self is the
internal reality of Truth and Bliss, eternally indivisible and pure
consciousness, the witness of the intellect and the other faculties,
distinct from being or not-being, the reality implied by the word
"I". 351

Distinguishing the real from
the unreal in this way by means of his inborn capacity of understanding,
and liberated from these bonds, a wise man attains peace by recognising
his own true nature as undifferentiated awareness. 352

The knot of ignorance in the
heart is finally removed when one comes to see one's own true non-dual
nature by means of imageless samadhi. 353

Assumptions of
"you", "me", "it" occur in the non-dual,
undifferentiated supreme self because of a failure in the understanding,
but all a man's false assumptions disappear in samadhi and are
completely destroyed by the realisation of the truth of the underlying
reality. 354

An ascetic who is peaceful,
disciplined, fully withdrawn, long-suffering and meditative always
cultivates the presence of the self of everything in himself.
Eradicating in this way the false assumptions created by the distorting
vision of ignorance, he lives happily in God free from action and free
from imaginations. 355

Only those who have achieved
samadhi and who have withdrawn the external senses, the mind and their
sense of doership into their true nature as consciousness are free from
being trapped in the snare of samsara, not those who just repeat the
statements of others. 356

Because of the diversity of
the things he identifies himself with, a man tends to see himself as
complex, but with the removal of the identification, he is himself again
and perfect as he is. For this reason a wise man should get rid of
self-identifications and always cultivate imageless samadhi. 357

Adhering to the Real a man
comes to share in the nature of that Reality by his one-pointed
concentration on it, in the same way that a grub is able to become a
wasp by concentration on a wasp. 358

A grub achieves wasphood by
abandoning attachment to other activities and concentrating on the
nature of being a wasp. In the same way an ascetic meditates on the
reality of the supreme self and achieves it through his one-pointed
concentration on it. 359

The reality of the supreme
self is extremely subtle and is not capable of being experienced by
those of coarse vision, but it can be known by those worthy of it by
reason of their very pure understanding by means of a mind made
extremely subtle by meditation. 360

As gold purified in a
furnace loses its impurities and achieves its own true nature, the mind
gets rid of the impurities of the attributes of delusion, passion and
purity through meditation and attains Reality. 361

When by the effect of
constant meditation the purified mind becomes one with God, then
samadhi, now freed from images, experiences in itself the state of
non-dual bliss. 362

The destruction of the bonds
of all desires through this samadhi is the destruction of all karma, and
there follows the manifestation of one's true nature without effort,
inside, outside, everywhere and always. 363

Thought should be considered
a hundred times better than hearing, and meditation is thousands of
times better than thought, while imageless samadhi is infinite in its
effect. 364

The experience of the
reality of God becomes permanent though imageless samadhi, but not
otherwise as it is mixed with other things by the restlessness of the
mind. 365

So, established in
meditation, with the senses controlled, the mind calmed and continually
turned inwards, destroy the darkness of beginningless ignorance by
recognising the oneness of Reality. 366

The primary door to union
with God is cutting off talking, not accepting possessions, freedom from
expectation, dispassion and a secluded manner of life. 367

Living in seclusion is the
cause of control of the senses, restraint of the mind leads to inner
stillness and tranquillity leads to mastery of self-centred desire. From
that comes the ascetic's continual experience of the unbroken bliss of
God. So the wise man should always strive for the cessation of thought.
368

Restrain speech within.
Restrain the mind in the understanding and restrain the understanding in
the consciousness that observes the understanding. Restrain that in the
perfect and imageless self, and enjoy supreme peace. 369

Body, functions, senses,
mind, understanding and so on - whichever of these adjuncts the mind's
activity is connected with, that becomes the ascetic's identity for the
time. 370

When this process is
stopped, the wise man knows the perfect joy of the letting go of
everything, and experiences the attainment of the overwhelming bliss of
Reality. 371

Internal renunciation and
external renunciation - it is the dispassionate man who is capable of
these. The dispassionate man abandons fetters internal and external
because of his yearning for liberation. 372

The dispassionate man,
established in God, is indeed capable of abandoning the external bond of
the senses and the internal one of selfishness and so on. 373

As a discriminating person
realise that dispassion and understanding are like a bird's wings for a
man. Without them both he cannot reach the nectar of liberation growing
on top of a creeper. 374

The extremely dispassionate
man achieves samadhi. A person in samadhi experiences steady
enlightenment. He who is enlightened to the Truth achieves liberation
from bondage, and he who is truly liberated experiences eternal joy. 375

I know of no higher source
of happiness for a self-controlled man than dispassion, and when allied
to thoroughly pure self-knowledge it leads to the sovereign state of
self-mastery. Since this is the gate to the unfading maiden of
liberation, always and with all eagerness develop this supreme wisdom
within yourself in happiness. 376

Cut off desire for the
poison-like senses, for these are death-dealing. Get rid of pride in
birth, family and state of life, and throw achievements far away. Drop
such unreal things as the body into the sacrificial bowl of your true
self, and develop wisdom within. You are the Witness. You are beyond the
thinking mind. You are truly God, non-dual and supreme. 377

Direct the mind resolutely
towards God, restraining the senses in their various seats, and looking
on the state of the body as a matter of indifference. Realise your
oneness with God, remaining continually intent on identifying with its
nature, and joyfully drink the bliss of God within, for what use is
there in other, empty things? 378

Stop thinking about anything
which is not your true self, for that is degrading and productive of
pain, and instead think about your true nature, which is bliss itself
and productive of liberation. 379

This treasure of
consciousness shines unfading with its own light as the witness of
everything. Meditate continually on it, making this your aim, distinct
as it is from the unreal. 380

This one should be aware of
with unbroken application, continually turning to it with a mind empty
of everything else, knowing it to be one's own true nature. 381

This one should identify
with firmly, abandoning the sense of doership and so on, remaining
indifferent to them, as one is to things like a cracked jar. 382

Turning one's purified
awareness within on the witness as pure consciousness, one should
gradually bring it to stillness and then become aware of the perfection
of one's true nature. 383

One should become aware of
oneself, indivisible and perfect like Space itself, when free from
identification with such things as one's body, senses, functions, mind
and sense of doership, which are all the products of one's own
ignorance. 384

Space when freed from the
hundreds of additional objects like pots and pans, receptacles and
needles is one, and in the same way the supreme Reality becomes no
longer multiple but one and pure when freed from the sense of doership
and so on. 385

All additional objects from
Brahma to the last clump of grass are simply unreal, so one should be
aware of one's own perfect true nature abiding alone and by itself. 386

When rightly seen, what had
been mistaken in error for something else is only what it always was and
not something different. When the mistaken perception is removed the
reality of the rope is seen for what it is, and the same is true for the
way everything is really oneself. 387

One is oneself Brahma, one
is Vishnu, one is Indra, one is Shiva, and one is oneself all this.
Nothing else exists except oneself. 388

Oneself is what is within,
oneself is without, oneself is in front and oneself is behind. Oneself
is to the south, oneself is to the north, and oneself is also above and
below. 389

Just as waves, foam,
whirlpool and bubbles are all in reality just water, so consciousness is
all this from the body to the sense of doership. Everything is just the
one pure consciousness. 390

This whole world known to
speech and mind is really the supreme Reality. Nothing else exists but
the Reality situated beyond the limits of the natural world. Are pots,
jars, tubs and so on different from clay? It is the man confused by the
wine of Maya that talks of "you" and "me". 391

The scripture talks of the
absence of duality in the expression "where there is nothing
else" (Chandogya Upanishad 7.24.1) with several verbs to remove any
idea of false attribution. 392

What else is there to know
but one's true supreme nature, God himself, like space pure, imageless,
unmoving, unchanging, free of within or without, without a second and
non-dual.

What more is to be said
here? The individual is himself God. Scripture declares that this whole
extended world is the indivisible God. Those who have been illuminated
by the thought "I am God", themselves live steadfastly as God,
abandoning external objects, as the eternal consciousness and bliss. 394

Destroy the desires arising
from opinions about yourself in this impure body, and even more so those
of the subtle mental level, and remain as yourself, the God within, the
eternal body of bliss, celebrated by the scriptures. 395

So long as a man is
concerned about the corpse-like body, he is impure and suffers from his
enemies in the shape of birth, death and sickness. When however he
thinks of himself as pure godlike and immovable, then he is freed from
those enemies, as the scriptures proclaim. 396

Getting rid of all apparent
realities within oneself, one is oneself the supreme God, perfect,
non-dual and actionless. 397

When the mind waves are put
to rest in one's true nature, the imageless God, then this false
assumption exists no longer, but is recognised as just empty talk. 398

What we call "All
this" is a false idea and mistaken assumption of in the one
Reality. How can there be distinctions in something which is changeless,
formless and without characteristics? 399

Seer, seeing and seen and so
on have no existence in the one Reality. How can there be distinctions
in something which is changeless, formless and without characteristics?
400

In the one Reality which is
completely perfect like the primal ocean, how can there be distinctions
in something which is changeless, formless and without characteristics?
401

When the cause of error has
been annihilated like darkness in light, how can there be distinctions
in something which is changeless, formless and without characteristics?
402

How can there be
distinctions in a supreme reality which is by nature one? Who has
noticed any distinctions in the pure joy of deep sleep? 403

After realisation of the
supreme Truth, all this no longer exists in one's true nature of the
imageless God. The snake is not to be found in time past, present or
future, and not a drop of water is to be found in a mirage. 404

Scripture declares that this
dualism is Maya-created and actually non-dual in the final analysis. It
is experienced for oneself in deep sleep. 405

The identity of a projection
with its underlying reality is recognised by the wise in the case of the
rope and the snake, etc. The false assumption arises from a mistake. 406

This falsely imagined
reality depends on thought, and in the absence of thought it no longer
exists, so put thought to rest in samadhi in the inner reality of one's
higher nature. 407

The wise man experiences the
perfection of God in his heart in samadhi as something which is eternal
consciousness, complete bliss, incomparable, transcendent, ever free,
free from effort, and like infinite space indivisible and unimaginable.
408

The wise man experiences the
perfection of God in his heart in samadhi as something which is free
from natural causation, a reality beyond thought, uniform, unequalled,
far from the associations of pride, vouched for by the pronouncements of
scripture, eternal, and familiar to us as ourselves. 409

The wise man experiences the
perfection of God in his heart in samadhi as something which is unaging,
undying, the abiding reality among changing objects, formless, like a
calm sea free from questions and answers, where the effects of natural
attributes are at rest, eternal, peaceful and one. 410

With the mind pacified by
samadhi within, recognise the infinite glory of yourself, sever the
sweet-smelling bonds of samsara, and energetically become one who has
achieved the goal of human existence. 411

Free from all false
self-identification, meditate on yourself as the non-dual
being-consciousness-bliss within yourself, and you will no longer be
subject to samsara. 412

Seeing it as no more than a
man's shadow, a mere reflection brought about by causality, the sage
looks on his body as from a distance like a corpse, with no intention of
taking it up again. 413

Come to the eternally pure
reality of consciousness and bliss and reject afar identification with
this dull and unclean body. Don't remember it any more, like something
once vomited is fit only for contempt. 414

Burning this down along with
its roots in the fire of his true nature, the imageless God, the wise
man remains alone in his nature as eternally pure consciousness and
bliss. 415

Let the body, spun on the
thread of previous causation, fall or stay put, like a cows garland. The
knower of the Truth takes no more notice of it, as his mental functions
are merged in his true nature of God. 416

To satisfy what desire, or
for what purpose should the knower of the Truth care for his body, when
he knows himself in his own true nature of indivisible bliss. 417

The fruit gained by the
successful man, liberated here and now, is the enjoyment in himself of
the experience of being and bliss within and without. 418

The fruit of dispassion is
understanding, the fruit of understanding is imperturbability, and the
fruit of the experience of bliss within is peace. This is the fruit of
imperturbability. 419

If the successive stages do
not occur it means that the previous ones were ineffective. Tranquillity
is the supreme satisfaction, leading to incomparable bliss. 420

The fruit of insight
referred to is feeling no disquiet at the experience of suffering. How
could a man who has done various disgusting actions in a time of
aberration do the same again when he is in his right mind? 421

The fruit of knowledge
should be the turning away from the unreal, while turning towards the
unreal is seen to be the fruit of ignorance. This can be seen in the
case of some-one who recognises or does not recognise things like a
mirage. Otherwise what fruit would there be for seers? 422

When the knot of the heart,
ignorance, has been thoroughly removed, how could the senses be the
cause of the mind being directed outwards for some-one who does not want
them? 423

When there is no upsurge of
desire for goods, that is the summit of dispassion. When there is no
longer any occurrence of the self-identification with the doer, that is
the summit of understanding, and when there is no more arising of latent
mental activity, that is the summit of equanimity. 424

He is the enjoyer of the
fruit of infinite past good deeds, blessed and to be revered on earth,
who free from external things by always been established in his
awareness of God, regards objects which others look on as desirable like
some-one half asleep, or like a child, and who looks at the world like a
world seen in a dream, or like some mere chance encounter. 425

That ascetic is of
established wisdom who enjoys the experience of being and bliss with his
mind merged in God, beyond change and beyond action. 426

That function of the mind
which is imageless pure awareness, and which is immersed in the
essential oneness of oneself and God is known as wisdom, and he in whom
this state is well established is called one of established wisdom. 427

He whose wisdom is well
established, whose bliss is uninterrupted, and whose awareness of
multiplicity is virtually forgotten, he is regarded as liberated here
and now. 428

When a man's mind is at rest
in God even when he is awake he does not share the usual condition of
being awake. He whose awareness is free of desires is regarded as
liberated here and now. 429

He whose worries in samsara
have been put to rest, who though made up of parts does not identify
himself with them, and whose mind is free from thoughts, he is regarded
as liberated here and now. 430

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is the absence of thoughts of "me" and
"mine" in the body while it still exists, going along with him
like his shadow. 431

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is not running back to the past, not dwelling on the
future, and being unconcerned about the present. 432

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is to look with an equal eye on everything in this manifold
existence with all its natural faults, knowing that in itself it is
without characteristics. 433

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is to remain unmoved in either direction, looking on things
with an equal eye within, whether encountering the pleasant or the
painful. 434

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is to be unaware of internal or external, since the
ascetic's mind is occupied with enjoying the experience of the bliss of
God. 435

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is that he remains unconcerned and free from the sense of
"me" and "mine" in the things needing to be done by
the body and the senses and so on. 436

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is that he is free from the bonds of samsara, knowing his
own identity with God with the help of the scriptures. 437

He is regarded as liberated
here and now who has no sense of "this is me" in the body and
senses, nor of "it exists" in anything else. 438

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is that he knows by wisdom that there is never any
distinction between God and what proceeds from God. 439

The sign of a man liberated
here and now is that he remains the same whether he is revered by the
good or tortured by the bad. 440

That ascetic is liberated
into whom, because of his being pure reality, the sense object can flow
and merge without leaving any alteration, like the water of a river's
flow. 441

There is no more samsara for
him who knows the Truth of God as there was before. If there is, then it
is not the knowledge of God, since it is still outward turned. 442

If it is suggested that he
still experiences samsara because of the strength of his previous
desires, the answer is, No, desires become powerless through the
knowledge of one's oneness with Reality. 443

The impulses of even an
extremely passionate man are arrested in face of his mother, and in the
same way those of the wise cease in face of the perfect bliss of the
knowledge of God. 444

Some-one practising
meditation is seen to have external functions still. Scripture declares
that this is the effect of the fruits of previous conditioning. 445

So long as pleasure and the
like occur, one acknowledges the effect of previous conditioning. A
result occurs because of a previous cause. Nothing happens without a
cause. 446

With the realisation that
"I am God", all the actions accumulated over ages are wiped
out, like actions in a dream on waking up. 447

How could the good or even
dreadfully bad deeds done in the dreaming state lead a man to heaven or
hell when he arises from sleep? 448

Recognising himself as
unattached and impartial space, he never hold on to anything with the
thought of actions yet to be done. 449

Space is not affected with
the smell of wine by contact with the jar, and in the same way one's
true nature is not affected by their qualities through contact with the
things one identified oneself with. 450

The karma created before the
arising of knowledge does not come to an end with knowledge without
producing its effect, like an arrow shot at a target after being loosed.
451

An arrow released in the
understanding that it was at a tiger does not stop when it is seen to be
a cow, but pierces the target with the full force of its speed. 452

The effects of previous
conditioning are too strong for even a wise man, and it is eliminated
only by enduring it, but the effects of present and future conditioning
are all destroyed by the fire of true understanding. Those who are
always established in the knowledge of their oneness with God, as a
result of that are not affected by these three aspects of conditioning
since they share the unconditioned nature of God. 453

The question of the
existence of past conditioning does not apply for the ascetic who, by
getting rid of self-identification with anything else, is established
within in the knowledge of the perfection of God as his true nature,
just as questions concerned with things in a dream have no meaning when
one has woken up. 454

He who has woken up makes no
distinctions about his dream body and the multiplicity of things
connected with it as being "me", "mine" or anything
else, but simply remains himself by staying awake. 455

He has no desire to assert
the reality of those illusions, and he has no need to hold on to the
things he has woken up from. If he still chases these false realities he
is certainly considered not awake yet. 456

In the same way he who lives
in God remains in his own nature and seeks nothing else. Like the memory
of things seen in a dream is the way the seer experiences eating, going
to the toilet and so on. 457

The body has been formed by
causation so past causality appropriately applies to it, but it does not
apply to the beginningless self, since one's true nature has not been
causally formed. 458

Scriptures which do not err
affirm that one's true nature is "Unborn, eternal and abiding"
(Katha Upanishad 1.2.18), so how could causality apply to someone
established in such a self? 459

Causality applies only so
long as one identifies oneself with the body, so he who does not
consider himself the body has abolished causality for himself. 460

Even the opinion that
causality applies to the body is a mistake. How can a false assumption
be true, and how can something which does not exist have a beginning?
How can something with no beginning have an end, and how can causality
apply to something that does not exist? 461

The ignorant have the
problem that if ignorance has been completely eliminated by knowledge,
how does the body persist? To settle this doubt scripture talks about
causality in accordance with conventional views, but not to teach the
reality of the body and such things to the wise. 462, 463

Complete in himself, without
beginning or end, infinite and unchanging, God is one and without a
second. There is nothing other than He. 464

The essence of Truth, the
essence of Consciousness, the eternal essence of Bliss and unchanging,
God is one and without a second. There is nothing other than He. 465

The one reality within
everything, complete, infinite, and limitless, God is one and without a
second. There is nothing other than He. 466

He cannot be removed or
grasped; he cannot be received from someone else, or held onto. God is
one and without a second. There is nothing other than He. 467

Without attributes,
indivisible, subtle, inconceivable, and without blemish, God is one and
without a second. There is nothing other than He. 468

His appearance is formless,
beyond the realm of mind and speech. God is one and without a second.
There is nothing other than He. 469

Exuberant Reality,
self-reliant, complete, pure, conscious and unique, God is one and
without a second. There is nothing other than He. 470

Great ascetics who have
abandoned desires and given up possessions, calm and disciplined, come
to know this supreme Truth, and in the end attain the supreme peace by
their self-realisation. 471

You too should recognise
this supreme Truth about yourself, your true nature and the essence of
bliss, and shaking off the illusion created by your own imagination,
become liberated, fulfilled and enlightened. 472

See the Truth of yourself
with the clear eye of understanding, after the mind has been made
thoroughly unwavering by meditation. If the words of scripture you have
heard are really received without doubting, you will experience no more
mistaken perception. 473

When one has freed oneself
from association with the bonds of ignorance by the realisation of the
reality of Truth, Wisdom and Bliss, then scripture, traditional
practices and the sayings of the wise remain proofs, but the inner
experience of truth is proof too. 474

Bondage, freedom,
contentment, worry, health, hunger and so on are matters of personal
experience, and other people's knowledge of them can only be by
inference. 475

Impartial gurus teach, as do
the scriptures, that the wise man crosses over by means of wisdom alone
through the grace of God. 476

Knowing his true indivisible
nature by his own realisation the perfected man should remain in full
possession of himself free from imaginations within. 477

The conclusion of all the
scriptures and of experience is that God is the individual and the whole
world too, and that liberation is to remain in the one indivisible
Reality. The scriptures are also the authority for the non-duality of
God. 478

Having thus attained the
supreme reality by self discipline through the words of his guru and the
testimony of the scriptures, his faculties at peace and his mind at
peace, he becomes something self-poised and immovable. 479

Having established his mind
for some time in the supreme God, he arose from supreme bliss and
uttered these words. 480

My intellect has vanished
and my mental activities have been swallowed up in the realisation of
the oneness of myself and God. I no longer know this from that, nor what
or how great this unsurpassed joy is. 481

Words cannot express nor the
mind conceive the greatness of the ocean of the supreme God, full of the
nectar of bliss. Like the state of a hail-stone fallen into the ocean,
my mind has now melted away in the tiniest fraction of it, fulfilled by
its essential nature of Bliss. 482

Where has the world gone?
Who has removed it, or where has it disappeared to? I saw it only just
now, and now it is not there. This a great wonder. 483

In the great ocean filled
with the nectar of the indivisible bliss of God, what is to be got rid
of, what is to be held onto, what is there apart from oneself and what
has any characteristics of its own? 484

I can neither see, hear or
experience anything else there, as it is I who exist there by myself
with the characteristics of Being and Bliss. 485

Salutation upon salutation
to you, great guru, free from attachment, the embodiment of absolute
Truth, with the nature of ever non-dual bliss, the sea of eternal
compassion on earth. 486

Your very glance has soothed
like gentle moonlight the weariness produced by the great heat of
samsara, and I have immediately attained my own true everlasting home,
the abode of imperishable glory and bliss. 487

Through your grace I am
blessed, I have achieved the goal, I am freed from the bonds of samsara,
I am eternal bliss by nature, and fulfilled. 488

I am free, I am bodiless, I
am without sex and indestructible. I am at peace, I am infinite, without
blemish and eternal. 489

I am not the doer and I am
not the reaper of the consequences. I am unchanging and without
activity. I am pure awareness by nature, I am perfect and forever
blessed. 490

I am neither this nor that,
but the pure supreme reality which illuminates them both. I am God, the
indivisible, devoid of inside and outside, complete. 492

I am uncomparable,
beginningless Reality. I am far from such thoughts as "you",
"me", and "this". I am eternal bliss, the Truth, the
non-dual God himself. 493

I am Narayana, I am the
slayer of Naraka and of Pura. I am the supreme Person and the Lord. I am
indivisible awareness, the witness of everything. I have no master and I
am without any sense of "me" and "mine". 494

I abide in all creatures,
being the very knowledge which is their inner and outer support. I
myself am the ejoyer and all enjoyment, in fact whatever I experienced
before now. 495

In me who am the ocean of
infinite joy the manifold waves of the universe arise and come to an
end, impelled by the winds of Maya. 496

Ideas like
"material" are mistakenly imagined about me by people under
the influence of their presuppositions, as are divisions of time like
kalpas, years, half-years and seasons, dividing the indivisible and
inconceivable.. 497

The presuppositions of the
severely deluded can never affect the underlying reality, just as the
great torrent of a mirage flood cannot wet a desert land. 498

Like space, I am beyond
contamination. Like the sun, I am distinct from the things illuminated.
Like a mountain, I am always immovable. Like the ocean, I am boundless.
499

I am no more bound to the
body than the sky is to a cloud, so how can I be affected by its states
of waking, dreaming and deep sleep? 500

Imagined attributes added to
one's true nature come and go. They create karma and experience its
effects. They grow old and die, but I always remain immovable like mount
Kudrali. 501

There is no outward turning
nor turning back for me, who am always the same and indivisible. How can
that perform actions which is single, of one nature, without parts and
complete, like space? 502

How can there be good and
bad deeds for me who am organless, mindless, changeless and formless,
and experience only indivisible joy? The scriptures themselves declare
"he is not affected" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.22). 503

Heat or cold, the pleasant
or the unpleasant coming into contact with a man's shadow in no way
affect the man himself who is quite distinct from his shadow. 504

The qualities of things seen
do not touch the seer, who is quite distinct from them, changeless and
unaffected, just as household objects do not touch the lamp there. 505

Like the sun's mere
witnessing of actions, like fire's non-involvement with the things it is
burning, and like the relationship of a rope to the idea superimposed on
it, so is the unchanging consciousness within me. 506

I neither do nor make things
happen. I neither experience nor cause to experience. I neither see nor
make others see. I am that supreme light without attributes. 507

When intervening factors
(the water) move, the ignorant ascribe the movement of the reflection to
the object itself, like the sun which is actually immovable. They think
"I am the doer", "I am the reaper of the
consequences", and "Alas, I am being killed." 508

Whether my physical body
falls into water or onto dry land, I am not dirtied by their qualities,
just as space is not affected by the qualities of a jar it is in. 509

Such states as thinking
oneself the doer or the reaper of the consequences, being wicked, drunk,
stupid, bound or free are false assumptions of the understanding, and do
not apply in reality to one's true self, the supreme, perfect and
non-dual God. 510

Let there be tens of changes
on the natural level, hundreds of changes, thousands of changes. What is
that to me, who am unattached consciousness? The clouds never touch the
sky. 511

I am that non-dual God, who
like space is subtle and without beginning or end, and in whom all this
from the unmanifest down to the material is displayed as no more than an
appearance. 512

I am that non-dual God who
is eternal, pure, unmoving and imageless, the support of everything, the
illuminator of all objects, manifest in all forms and all-pervading, and
yet empty of everything. 513

I am that non-dual God who
is infinite Truth, Knowledge and Bliss, who transcends the endless
modifications of Maya, who is one's own reality and to be experienced
within. 514

I am actionless, changeless,
partless, formless, imageless, endless and supportless - one without a
second. 515

I am the reality in
everything. I am everything and I am the non-dual beyond everything. I
am perfect indivisible awareness and I am infinite bliss. 516

I have received this glory
of the sovereignty over myself and over the world by the compassion of
your grace, noble and great-souled guru. Salutation upon salutation to
you, and again salutation. 517

You, my teacher, have my
supreme saviour, waking me up from sleep through your infinite
compassion, lost in a vast dream as I was and afflicted every day by
countless troubles in the Maya-created forest of birth, old age and
death, and tormented by the tiger of this feeling myself the doer. 518

Salutation to you, King of
gurus, who remain always the same in your greatness. Salutation to you
who are manifest as all this that we see. 519

Seeing his noble disciple,
who had achieved the joy of his true nature in samadhi, who had awaken
to the Truth, and experienced deep inner contentment, kneeling thus
before him, the best of teachers and supreme great soul spoke again and
said these words. 520

The world is a sequence of
experiences of God, so it is God that is everything, and one should see
this in all circumstances with inner insight and a peaceful mind. What
has ever been seen by sighted people but forms, and in the same way what
other resort is there for a man of understanding but to know God? 521

What man of wisdom would
abandon the experience of supreme bliss to take pleasure in things with
no substance? When the beautiful moon iself is shining, who would want
to look at just a painted moon? 522

There is no satisfaction or
elimination of suffering through the experience of unreal things, so
experience that non-dual bliss and remain happily content established in
to your own true nature. 523

Pass your time, noble one,
in being aware of your true nature everywhere, thinking of yourself as
non-dual, and enjoying the bliss inherent in yourself. 524

Imagining things about the
unimaginable and indivisible nature of awareness is building castles in
the sky, so transcending this, experience the surpreme peace of silence
through your true nature composed of that non-dual bliss. 525

The ultimate tranquillity is
the return to silence of the intellect, since the intellect is the cause
of false assumptions, and in this peace the great souled man who knows
God and who has become God experiences the infinite joy of non-dual
bliss. 526

For the man who has
recognised his own nature and who is enjoying the experience of inner
bliss, there is nothing that gives him greater satisfaction than the
peace that comes from having no desires. 527

A wise and silent ascetic
lives as he pleases finding his joy in himself at all times whether
walking, standing, sitting, lying down or whatever. 528

The great soul who has come
to know the Truth and whose mental functions are not constrained has no
concerns about such things as his aims in matters of locality, time,
posture, direction and discipline etc. There can be no dependence on
things like discipline when one knows oneself. 529

What discipline is required
to recognise that "This is a jar"? All that is necessary is
for the means of perception to be in good condition, and if they are,
one recognises the object. 530

In the same way this true
nature of ours is obvious if the means of perception are present. It
does not require a special place or time or purification. 531

There are no qualifications
necessary to know one's own name, and the same is true for the knower of
God's knowledge that "I am God. 532

How can something else,
without substance, unreal and trivial, illuminate that by whose great
radiance the whole world is illuminated? 533

What can illuminate that
Knower by whom the Vedas, and other scriptures as well as all creatures
themselves are given meaning? 534

This light is within us,
infinite in power, our true nature, immeasurable and the comon
experience of all. When a man free from bonds comes to know it, this
knower of God stands out supreme among the supreme. 535

He is neither upset nor
pleased by the senses, nor is he attached to or averse to them, but his
sport is always within and his enjoyment is in himself, satisfied with
the enjoyment of infinite bliss. 536

A child plays with a toy
ignoring hunger and physical discomfort, and in the same way a man of
realisation is happy and contented free from "me" and
"mine". 537

Men of realisation live free
from preoccupation, eating food begged without humiliation, drinking the
water of streams, living freely and without constraint, sleeping in
cemetery or forest, their clothing space itself, which needs no care
such as washing and drying, the earth as their bed, following the paths
of the scriptures, and their sport in the supreme nature of God. 538

He who knows himself, wears
no distinguishing mark and is unattached to the senses, and treats his
body as a vehicle, experiencing the various objects as they present
themselves like a child dependent on the wishes of others. 539

He who is clothed in
knowledge roams the earth freely, whether dressed in space itself,
properly dressed, or perhaps dressed in skins, and whether in appearance
a madman, a child or a ghost. 540

The wise man lives as the
embodiment of dispassion even amid passions, he travels alone even in
company, he is always satisfied with his own true nature and established
in himself as the self of all. 541

Even when poor always
contented, even without assistance always strong, always satisfied even
without eating, without equal, but looking on everything with an equal
eye. 543

This man is not acting even
when acting, experiences the fruits of past actions but is not the
reaper of the consequences, with a body and yet without a body,
prescribed and yet present everywhere. 544

Thoughts of pleasant and
unpleasant as well as thoughts of good and bad do not touch this knower
of God who has no body and who is always at peace. 545

Pleasure and pain and good
and bad exist for him who identifies himself with ideas of a physical
body and so on. How can there be good or bad consequences for the wise
man who has brokened his bonds and is one with Reality? 546

The sun appears to be
swallowed up by the darkness in an eclipse and is mistakenly called
swallowed up by people through misunderstanding of the nature of things.
547

In the same way the
ignorant, see even the greatest knower of God, though free from the
bonds of the body and so on, as having a body since they can see what is
obviously still a body. 548

Such a man remains free of
the body, and moves here and there as impelled by the winds of energy,
like a snake that has cast its skin. 549

Just as a piece of wood is
carried high and low by a stream, so the body is carried along by
causality as the appropriate fruits of past actions present themselves.
550

The man free from
identification with the body lives experiencing the causal effects of
previously entertained desires, just like the man subject to samsara,
but, being realised, he remains silently within himself as the witness
there, empty of further mental imaginations - like the axle of a wheel.
551

He whose mind is intoxicated
with the drink of the pure bliss of self-knowledge does not turn the
senses towards their objects, nor does he turn them away from them, but
remains as a simple spectator, and regards the results of actions
without the least concern. 552

He who has given up choosing
one goal from another, and who remains perfect in himself as the
spectator of his own good fortune - he is the supreme knower of God. 553

Liberated forever here and
now, having achieved his purpose, the perfect knower of God, being God
himself by the destruction of all false indentifications, goes to the
non-dual God. 554

Just as an actor, whatever
his costume may or may not be, is still a man, so the best of men, the
knower of God, is always God and nothing else. 555

Wherever the body may wither
and fall like a tree leaf, that of the ascetic who has become God has
already been cremated by the fire of the knowledge of Reality. 556

There are no considerations
of place and time laid down with regard to relinquishing this mass of
skin, flesh and filth for the wise man who is already forever
established in God within himself as the perfect non-dual bliss of his
own nature. 557

Liberation is not just
getting rid of the body, nor of one's staff or bowl. Liberation is
getting rid of all the knots of ignorance in the heart. 558

Whether a leaf falls into a
gutter or a river, into a shrine or onto a crossroad, in what way is
that good or bad for the tree? 559

The destruction of body,
organs, vitality and intellect is like the destruction of a leaf, a
flower or a fruit. It is not the destruction of oneself, but of
something which is not the cause of happiness for one's true self. That
remains like the tree. 560

The scriptures that teach
the truth declare that the property of one's true nature is "a mass
of intelligence" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5.13), and they talk
of the destruction of secondary additional attributes only. 561

The scripture declares of
the true self that "This Self is truly imperishable" (Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad 4.5.14), the indestructible reality in the midst of changing
things subject to destruction. 562

In the same way that burnt
stones, trees, grass, rice, straw, cloth and so on turn to earth, so
what we see here in the form of body, organs, vitality, mind and so on
when burned by the fire of knowledge take on the nature of God. 563

Just as darkness, though
distinct from it, disappears in the light of the sun, so all that we can
see disappears in God. 564

Just as when a jar is broken
the space in it becomes manifest as space again, so the knower of God
becomes the God in himself with the elimination of false
identifications. 565

Like milk poured into milk,
oil into oil and water into water, so the ascetic who knows himself
becomes united with the One in himself. 566

The ascetic who has thus
achieved the nature of God, perfectly free of the body and with the
indivisible nature of Reality, does not come back again. 567

How could the brahmin come
back again after becoming God when his external features of ignorance
and so on have been burned by the recognition of his oneness with the
Truth? 568

The Maya-produced
alternatives of bondage and liberation do not really exist in one's true
nature, just as the alternatives of there being a snake or not do not
exist in the rope which is not affected by them. 569

Bondage and liberation can
be referred to only in connection with the existence or absence of
something covering what is really there, but there can be no covering of
God as there is nothing else and no covering, since this would destroy
the non-duality of God, and the scriptures do not admit duality. 570

Bondage and liberation are
unreal. They are an effect of the intellect which the stupid identify
with reality just like the covering of the sight caused by a cloud is
applied to the sun. For this imperishable Reality is non-dual,
unattached and consciousness. 571

The opinion that this
covering exists or does not exist in the underlying reality is an
attribute of the intellect and not of the eternal reality underneath.
572

So these alternatives of
bondage and liberation are produced by Maya and not in one's true
nature. How can there be the idea of them in the non-dual supreme Truth
which is without parts, actionless, peaceful, indestructible, and
without blemish, like space? 573

There is neither end nor
beginning, no one in bondage and no aspirant, no one seeking liberation
and no one free. (Amritabindu Upanishad 10). This is the supreme truth.
574

I have shown you today
repeatedly, as my own son, this ultimate secret, the supreme crest of
the scriptures and of the complete Vedanta, considering you one seeking
liberation, free from the stains of this dark time, and with a mind free
from sensuality. 575

On hearing these words of
his guru the disciple prostrated himself before him and with his
permission went away free from bondage. 576

The guru too with his mind
immersed in the ocean of Truth and Bliss, and with his mind free of
discriminations went on his way purifying the whole world. 577

In this way, in the form of
a dialogue between teacher and pupil, the nature of one's true self has
been taught for easy attainment of the joy of Realisation by those
seeking liberation. 578

May those ascetics who have
removed all defilements of mind by the designated methods, whose minds
are at peace and free from the pleasures of the world, and who delight
in the scriptures, reverence this teaching. 579

For those who are suffering
in samsara from the heat of the threefold forms of pain, and wandering
in delusion in a desert thirsting for water, may these words of Shankara
which secure nirvana and excel all others, procure for them the ocean of
nectar close by in the form of the non-dual God. 580

Appendix

The following verse is found
in some editions, following verse 327, which also then omit verses 328
and 329. There are also other minor differences, above all in the
division of the verses, but these make little difference in practice to
the meaning.

He who has achieved
perfection while still alive, is perfect when free from the body too.
The Yajur Veda declares that he who sees duality experiences fear. 328

End of Viveka-Chudamani

-------

This site is devoted
to presenting the ancient Self-Realization path of the Tradition of
the Himalayan masters in simple, understandable and beneficial ways,
while not compromising quality or depth. The goal of our sadhana or
practices is the highest Joy that comes from the Realization in
direct experience of the center of consciousness, the Self, the
Atman or Purusha, which is one and the same with the Absolute
Reality. This Self-Realization comes through Yoga meditation of the
Yoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the
intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra, the three of which
complement one another like fingers on a hand. We employ the
classical approaches of Raja, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga, as well
as Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra, Nada, Siddha, and Tantra
Yoga. Meditation, contemplation, mantra and prayer finally converge
into a unified force directed towards the final stage, piercing the
pearl of wisdom called bindu, leading to the Absolute.